Poverty

Thoughts on Hunger and Poverty

By all means Treat the symptoms

food in·se·cur·i·ty n. the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food; being hungry (in the sense of “the uneasy or painful sensation caused by want of food” for days each year).

* Food insecurity exists in every county in America.

* Hunger and malnutrition have devastating effects on our children’s ability to learn and grow.

* In the US, hunger isn’t caused by a lack of food, but by the continued prevalence of poverty.

min·i·mum wagen. the lowest wage, set by law or contract, that can be paid for a specified job.

* Most minimum wage workers are women, not teenagers.

* There is no state where a 40 hour minimum wage week is enough to afford a 2-bedroom apartment.

Work to Eradicate the disease

e·con·o·ciden. 1. The primary socio-political relation of the current historical period. 2. The political-economic arranging of the disappearance of ‘economic others’ – those deemed not needed nor wanted – from the universe of obligation. 3.The loss of democracy – surrendering power to corporate interests that now act as quasi-public bodies making decisions that serve their interests and undermine ours.

See also:

Unpersons (George Orwell)

Secession of the upper and middle classes from the rest of the country (Arundhati Roy)

* The International Franchise Association, the US Chamber of Commerce, and others are challenging Seattle’s new $15/hr minimum wage claiming that it violates their constitutional rights under the 1st and 14th Amendments.

* Since the early 1970’s, the US supreme court has privileged large corporations at the expense of environmental, consumer, labor rights protections, and has helped increase an income inequality that is now as great or greater than before the New Deal era.